Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield have announced the nation will remain at current alert levels for one more week.

Auckland will move from Alert Level 4 at 11.59pm Tuesday September 21, with an “in-principle” agreement for the city to move to Alert Level 3 after that time. 

Outside of Auckland, Jacinda says, the level of vigilance needs to remain high because there is a good chance Delta could break out of Auckland if people let their guards down.

The rest of New Zealand will remain at Alert Level 2 until 11.59pm Tuesday September 21, with the alert level to be reviewed on Monday September 20.

“The thing about Delta is if a member of a household gets it, the rest of the household inevitably gets it too.” 

She says surveillance of healthcare workers and frontline workers tells us there is no widespread community transmission.

“There is not widespread transmission of the virus in Auckland.”

Jacinda explained there are three clusters which continue to see cases emerge. 

There are also a number of cases (17) which are unlinked to known cases. 

Surveillance and community testing has been confirming these positive cases, which she says means there is community transmission which needs to be found and closed. 

She says, what the country has seen is Alert Level 4 is working and helped bring the outbreak under control. 

However she says the “job is not done yet.” 

“We don’t want to risk the sacrifices everyone has made,” Jacinda says. 

The Prime Minister again called for people to get tested if they have symptoms, with some Auckland suburbs to be tested in general. 

She also encouraged everyone to continue to seek vaccinations. 

“Every new person vaccinated this week will contribute to keep more people safe,” she says.